A clachan ( or ; ; ) is a small settlement or

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

on the island of

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

and

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Though many were originally kirktowns,MacBain, A. (1911) ''An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language''

Stirling Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...

Eneas MacKay, 1982 edition by Gairm today they are often thought of as small

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

s lacking a church, post office, or other formal building. It is likely that many date to medieval times or earlier – a cluster of small single-storey cottages of farmers and/or fishermen, invariably found on poorer land. They were often related to the

rundale The rundale system (apparently from the Irish Gaelic words "" which refers to the division of something and "", in the sense of apportionment) was a form of occupation of land in Ireland, somewhat resembling the English common field system. The ...

system of farming. According to David Lloyd, the Great Famine in Ireland (1845–49) caused such disruption to the social system that the clachans there virtually disappeared; many in the Scottish Highlands were victims of the Clearances. In some cases, they have evolved into holiday villages, or one or two houses have taken over, turning smaller houses into agricultural outhouses. Remains can be seen in many upland and coastal areas. Some are clustered in a dip in the landscape, to protect from Atlantic winds, but others stretch haphazardly along main roads.

Etymology

The word is composed of two elements, ''clach''/''cloch'' meaning "stone" and the masculine diminutive suffix ''-an''/''-án''. It originally denoted one of two things: * a monastic stone-cell (

clochán A (plural ) or beehive hut is a dry-stone hut with a corbelled roof, commonly associated with the south-western Irish seaboard. The precise construction date of most of these structures is unknown with the buildings belonging to a long-estab ...

). * a paved road or causeway which in the earliest period were most commonly found leading to or from a church or cell{{cite web , url=http://www.dil.ie/results-list.asp?mode=BAS&Fuzzy=0&searchtext=cloch%C3%A1n&findlet=+&findcol=&sortField=ID&sortDIR=65602&respage=0&resperpage=10&bhcp=1 , archive-url=https://archive.today/20130218075213/http://www.dil.ie/results-list.asp?mode=BAS&Fuzzy=0&searchtext=cloch%C3%A1n&findlet=+&findcol=&sortField=ID&sortDIR=65602&respage=0&resperpage=10&bhcp=1 , url-status=dead , archive-date=18 February 2013 , title=eDIL , author= , date= , publisher=

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the natural sciences, arts, literature, and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned society and one of its le ...

University of Ulster Ulster University (; Ulster Scots: or ), legally the University of Ulster, is a multi-campus public research university located in Northern Ireland. It is often referred to informally and unofficially as Ulster, or by the abbreviation UU. It i ...

, accessdate=10 June 2012 This should not be confused with the Scottish Gaelic plural of ''clach'' which is ''clachan'' "stones", a

homonym In linguistics, homonyms are words which are either; '' homographs''—words that mean different things, but have the same spelling (regardless of pronunciation), or '' homophones''—words that mean different things, but have the same pronunciat ...

Examples

Ireland

Cloghane An Clochán (anglicized as Cloghane; from '' clochán'', a local type of dry-stone hut) is a Gaeltacht village and townland on the Dingle Peninsula of County Kerry, Ireland, at the foot of Mount Brandon. It is also part of a civil parish of ...

County Kerry County Kerry () is a Counties of Ireland, county on the southwest coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is bordered by two other countie ...

* Cloghan, County Offaly * Cloghan, County Donegal * Cloghanmore in

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county of the Republic of Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is the northernmost county of Ireland. The county mostly borders Northern Ireland, sharing only a small b ...

* Menlo/ Mionloch in

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

In the meaning of "causeway", the most prominent example in Irish is the

Giant's Causeway The Giant's Causeway () is an area of approximately 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcano, volcanic fissure eruption, part of the North Atlantic Igneous Province active in the region during the Paleogene period. ...

, known in Irish as ''Clochán an Aifir'' or ''Clochán na bhFomhórach''.

Scotland

In Scotland, clachans can be found in

Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute (; , ) is one of 32 unitary authority, unitary council areas of Scotland, council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod ...

, Highland

Perthshire Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...

and in the

Highland Council The Highland Council (' ) is the local authority for Highland, one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. The council is based at the Highland Council Headquarters in Inverness. History The Highland area had been created as an administrative a ...

region but also elsewhere, for example: * Clachan, Cowal, Argyll and Bute * Clachan, Lismore, Argyll and Bute *

Clachan, Kintyre Clachan is a small village in North Kintyre, Argyll & Bute, Scotland. Clachan is the site of an old church, which was the principal church for the North Kintyre area. The church is surrounded by carved stone statues of the chiefs of the Clan Al ...

, Argyll and Bute * Clachan, Ross and Cromarty, Highland * Clachan, Skye, Highland * Clachan, Sutherland, Highland * Clachan, Raasay on the Isle of Raasay, Highland * Clachan, South Uist, Outer Hebrides *

Clachan of Campsie Clachan of Campsie or Campsie Glen () is a settlement in the East Dunbartonshire area of Scotland. It was formerly part of the county of Stirlingshire. It is situated to the south of the Campsie Fells at the foot of Campsie Glen where the Finglen ...

* Clachan of Glendaruel in Argyll * Clachaneasy in

Galloway Galloway ( ; ; ) is a region in southwestern Scotland comprising the counties of Scotland, historic counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. It is administered as part of the council areas of Scotland, council area of Dumfries and Gallow ...

* Hessilhead in North Ayrshire * Bloak in East Ayrshire * Ladeside in East Ayrshire * Damnaglaur in the Rinns of Galloway

Other

* Clachan, Ontario, Canada

Notes

External links

The Glens of Antrim Historical Society
includes a substantial section on Clachans in

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, County Antrim, Antrim, ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, located within the historic Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the c ...

Rural geography Hamlets Types of populated places